At the Free Iran Gathering in Paris on Saturday, former speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich gave an impassioned speech in support of the Iranian people and their desire for regime change.

He began by explaining that the previous US policy of appeasement, especially the 2015 nuclear deal which lifted sanctions on the country in exchange for restrictions on their nuclear programme, was weak and “deluded”.

Gingrich then praised the current reality-based US policy, which is focused on stopping the Iranian dictatorship and has begun by pulling out of the flawed nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions that he predicted would only get tougher as time went on.

He said: “In the end, the only way to safety in the region is to replace the dictatorship with democracy, and that has to be our goal… Our goal is to have a free democratic Iran that respects the rights of every individual.”

Gingrich then advocated that the international community, including the US, the Iranian diaspora, and all freedom-loving people, should “shame” Europe into following suit and ending their financial support of the mullahs.

He said: “We need to make clear that whatever money they are making out of the dictatorship is a terrible price to pay for the people for their betraying in every single town in Iran. We need to insist that they join the sanctions once again.”

Gingrich explained that the Iranian Regime was very weak, and had only been made weaker by US sanctions and the people’s uprising. Now is the time to strike, to bring down the regime, so he encouraged people to do whatever they could from writing to their politicians to tweeting out support for regime change. Anything to show the Iranian people that we are with them and to encourage their protests.

He praised the people at the Free Iran gathering, including Maryam Rajavi, for their incredible support of the Iranian people and told them that they were on the right side of history.

He said: “Freedom will come. It has been paid for by the blood of patriots. It has been paid for by the sweat of patriots. It has been paid for by those willing to stand up to the dictatorship. You are a key part of that.”

He close by expressing his hope that freedom for Iran was coming in the near future.

He said: “I’m going to be an optimist. I look forward to the day that this meeting can be in Tehran in a free country.”